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Germans in the spotlight at migration exhibition

Georgie Keate

July 3 2015, 11:31pm, The Times

The exhibition takes place at HM General Register House, Edinburgh, Lothian, ScotlandCorbis

The Irish boosted Scotland’s shipyards with manpower, the Italians brought their restaurants and Asians set up the corner-shop culture. Yet it is the Germans who will be in the spotlight at a migration exhibition in Edinburgh.

A display from the London-based Migration Museum Project (MMP) was heading north on the train yesterday after a request from the German consul in Edinburgh.

Sophie Henderson, the director of the MMP, said that while showcasing German migrants might seem counter-intuitive given other more prominent groups, the Germans’ involvement in the UK’s history made them an “interesting lens” through which to look at immigration. The first Germans to arrive were medieval merchants, coming to ports such as Aberdeen. They were followed by an influx in the late 19th century…